


moon dance(r)

by i_was_human



Category: Lost in Translation (Webcomic)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Character Study, Gen, Inspired by Music, Magic, Moon, No Beta, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:07:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28733937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_was_human/pseuds/i_was_human
Summary: let's close the curtains anddance in the moonlight, yeahor: five times someone thought dongho was the moon, and one time he met the sun.
Relationships: Ahn Jaewon | Wyld & Kang Dongho | D.Min, Kang Dongho | D.Min & Kim Daehyun & Lee Minsoo, Kang Dongho | D.Min & Lee Minsoo
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	moon dance(r)

_i._

Dongho has never really been a _normal_ child, per se.

He never cries. Never gets angry. Never seems to express any emotions other than placid calm.

For any other parent, that would've been concerning. It would've been concerning that Dongho never seems to be happy with anything, that he never seems to care about anything, that _nothing_ seems to leave any sort of lasting impact, but to the Kangs, it's a godsend.

After all, what better "flaw" could they ask for?

Still, Dongho has to learn to emote _somehow_ , and so he takes up dancing.

He's a natural.

Elegant, sweeping movements shine under the practice room lights, and it's _this_ he keeps with - time slipping by in chunks until he's eighteen and flying back from L.A. to join an entertainment company in Korea - and it's almost like _this_ was what he was made for.

He stares out the window, turning thoughts over and over in his head, and his gaze, as always, strays to the distant moon.

He used to be obsessed with the moon, he recalls. Used to read stories about it, used to slip out from under his butler's watchful eyes to walk out in the moonlight.

Of course, then he realized that being obsessed with himself is fairly narcissistic.

He's not sure _what_ he is. He's not sure if he's the moon, if he's something from the moon, if he's some sort of moon rabbit like ancient myths speak of, but he knows he's _something_ related to the moon. 

Nobody's ever told this.

It's simply something he knows in his core - something his mind repeats with each heartbeat.

He is something of the moon.

This is a fact.

_ii._

The first time Minsoo sees Dongho dance, he's struck by the way he _moves_.

Graceful movements so unlike his own capture and hold his attention, and the elder's feet slide across the floor in smooth, practiced motions, his eyes shut and the faintest of smiles on his lips.

Dongho doesn't smile a lot, Minsoo's noticed.

Still - the man looks at home when he dances, pale skin cast in shades of silver and gold under the practice room lights, and for a moment, Minsoo feels like he's watching someone _not quite human_.

After all, what human could move so truly like the sea?

The song ends, and the spell breaks - Dongho turning to stare at him with the faintest of smiles on his lips - and Minsoo huffs, folding his arms over his chest.

"Pretty good. But you'll still have to do a lot better to beat me."

Dongho hums, seemingly unamused, and Minsoo grins, tugging his wallet out of his pocket.

"You're pretty good, though! Hey- you wanna grab some dinner?"

"Are you going to keep insulting me?" Dongho deadpans, and Minsoo gasps, darting forwards to grasp his wrist.

"Of course not! How _dare_ you accuse me of that?"

Dongho huffs once more, a faintly _satisfied_ lilt to the sound, and Minsoo tugs him forwards, a bright smile on his lips.

"C'mon! Let's go get something to eat!"

Dongho looks down at him, then, and for a moment, Minsoo can see that _surreality_ \- can see it in the depths of his dark eyes, can see it in the way his smile looks _so, so old_ \- before his lips purse back into a thin line, gaze drifting to the door.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Doesn't matter," Minsoo grins, tugging him towards the door. "You're paying."

_iii._

The first time Daehyun sees Dongho, it's with Minsoo.

Of course it is. 

He'll learn later that the two stick together like glue - Minsoo always following and/or tugging Dongho around - but in the moment, he looks at the pair of them and thinks he's seeing a living star.

Minsoo skids to a stop in front of him, a pamphlet clutched tightly in his grasp, and Dongho follows at a more sedate pace, one earbud nearly falling out of one ear and an earring dangling from the other. For all intents and purposes, they look normal - just struggling college students - and yet Daehyun doesn't think they're normal in the slightest.

"Hi!" Minsoo grins, thrusting a pamphlet in his direction. "You look like you do music!"

"Uh-"

Daehyun's every warning about _stranger danger_ blares in his mind, but there's something about these people that feels _right_.

Feels _safe_.

His gaze strays to Dongho, just for a moment, and the elder's lips curl into the faintest of smiles, the motion transforming him from something ethereal to something human. 

"We're from High Class Entertainment," Dongho murmurs, reaching over to nudge Minsoo's shoulder. "The agency is holding auditions soon, and you seem like someone who'd be interested in that."

"You sing?" Daehyun blurts, and Minsoo laughs, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

"Kinda? I sing, but Dongho-hyung just dances."

"You sing," Dongho states, and it's not a question, but Daehyun nods regardless. 

"Yeah! I- I do busking and stuff to get some extra money, and I play guitar, too, so-"

"We're already inviting you to the audition," Minsoo laughs, and Daehyun flushes up to the tips of his ears. 

"I'll come!"

Dongho smiles a bit at that, and for a moment, all Daehyun can think is that his smile looks like a crescent moon.

_iv._

When Jaewon first meets Dongho, it's for remedial lessons.

He's not the best dancer - far from it - but if he wants to get chosen for the debut group, he has to learn, and Daehyun's been getting lessons from Dongho, so surely it can't hurt.

He pushes the door open, wincing at the music that spills into the hall, and he closes it shut as quietly as he can, watching as the man in the center of the floor moves to the music. 

It's _cold_ , Jaewon thinks, moving to take a seat near the wall. Teetering between emotionless and _calm_ , the routine balances on a knife's edge, and as Jaewon watches Dongho slide into increasingly graceful movements, he decides it's a bit of both.

The song takes a few minutes to end, and once it's over, Dongho stands in the center of the room, panting gasps escaping his lips and dark hair stuck to his forehead.

Jaewon can't blame him.

That dancing... it's like nothing he's ever seen before. 

"Hi?" he tries, hoping it doesn't break the spell cast over the room.

Too late.

Dongho turns, eyes widening for a moment before falling back into their usual hooded shape. "Oh. You're Jaewon-ssi, right?"

"Yeah," Jaewon laughs, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "You're Dongho-ssi, right?"

"Just call me hyung," Dongho replies, waving a hand dismissively. "You're here for remedial dance lessons, yeah?"

"Ah- yes!"

Dongho smiles a bit, faint and fleeting, and it's gone so quickly that Jaewon nearly thinks he imagined it. "Alright. Let me pull up the music for you."

A dangling earring catches his attention, and Jaewon stares at it for a moment as Dongho heads over to fiddle with his phone. It's bright silver against the elder's skin, and as Jaewon stares, he can almost make out a crescent sort of curve to it.

"You should warm up," Dongho suggests, and Jaewon nearly shrieks. 

"Yep! I'll- I'll do that!"

_v._

Once they debut, Dongho's dancing is something the entire world knows.

The way he moves like water, the way he turns from something human to something _ethereal_... it's nearly famous among the right circles.

It's how he earns the moniker of "MAYHEM's Moon".

_They're not wrong_ , Dongho muses, scrolling through pages and pages under the same hashtag. Fans scream about his dancing, scream about his expressions, scream about the way he seems to _be_ the moon - calm and changing and dark and light all at once - and for a moment, he wishes they knew how right they were.

He's never going to say anything, of course.

Still, it's nice to see fans pick up on something he never expected them to.

He shakes his hair out of his face and scrolls back through Twitter, staring down at his moonlight-lit hands for a moment.

He always feels the most at home, here - in the living room, lit only by the moon.

Perhaps he'll go there someday. 

Still - now is now, and he's here on Earth.

He should make the best of it.

He slides his phone back into his pocket, reaching up to press his earbuds back into his ears.

There's nothing better than dancing in the moonlight, after all.

And for just a moment - one instant where he's cast in the light of the moon - he feels something _strong_. 

He feels _home_.

_vi._

When he first meets the sun, it's not any sort of fated moment.

Completely the opposite, actually.

The sun runs smack into him backstage at an award show, and he grabs him before they can both topple to the ground, gaze drifting to the man's eyes. 

And _oh_ -

Dark eyes burning with flames, rising and falling like solar flares-

"You're the moon," the sun breathes, and Dongho finds he can do nothing but nod.

Somehow, in this moment - in this one, perfect moment, removed from time and space - he feels _everything_.

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by moon dance by nu'est
> 
> leave a comment, and i might do a part two and three <3
> 
> [twit](https://twitter.com/i_was_human_) | [lit fic discord!](https://discord.gg/CNunB74)


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